Dancing Girls and Other Stories (Stalled Book Ray)

by Margaret Atwood | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0553561693 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingAramenawing of Noble, Oklahoma USA on 7/5/2006
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7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingAramenawing from Noble, Oklahoma USA on Wednesday, July 5, 2006
An interesting mix of short stories!

Journal Entry 2 by wingAramenawing from Noble, Oklahoma USA on Friday, July 28, 2006
This book is traveling as a book ray! Here is the order:

1. laurarn (US)
2. anozira86 (US)
3. kizmiaz (Portugal)
4. Evablue (Greece)
5. PurpleElephant (UK)
6. lmjsmum (UK)
7. parolina (Italy)
8. Fifna (Netherlands)
9. QueenSissi (Portugal)
10. fio-dagua (Portugal)
11. conto (Portugal)
12. Miss-Owl (Australia)
13. Breeze144 (Canada)
14. littlemoonbeam (US)
15. Aisling78 (US)

I’m not real strict on time lines – I don’t want anyone to feel rushed! When you get the book, if it looks like it may be longer than a month, just shoot me a PM and let know. When you are ready to send the book on, PM the next person on the list to get their address. If they don’t respond within a week or so, let me know, and we can move their name down the list and go to the next person.

Enjoy everyone!

Journal Entry 3 by amoenus from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma USA on Monday, July 31, 2006
Recieved in the mail today. I will start on it today, as I am taking a friend to the doctor and need something to read in the waiting room! Great timing, thanks for sending it. I will update journal entry after I read it and send to next on the list.

Journal Entry 4 by amoenus from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma USA on Friday, August 4, 2006
I'm really enjoying this book. I like short stories and Margaret Atwood writes great ones. So far my favorite is "Rape Fantasies". The narrator, who is a file clerk, is in the lunch room at work with 3 other office working women and they are playing a bad game of bridge. One of them starts reading a magazine that has those relationship quiz things in it. And one of the quizes has to do with rape fantasies. They start telling each other these sterotypical harliqun type things. Then the narrator tells one of hers. Here is a quote of part of it, "Al right, let me tell you one," I said. "I', walking down this dark street at night and this fellow comes up and grabs my arm. Now it so happens that I have a plastic lemon in my purse, you know how it always says you should carry a plastic lemon in your purse? I don't really do it, I tried it once but the darn thing leaked all over my chequebook, but in this fantasy I have one, and I say to him, 'Your intending to rape me, right?' and he nods, so I open my purse to get the plastic lemon, and I can't find it! My purse is full of all this junk, Kleenex and cigarettes and my change purse and my lipstick and my driver's licence, you know the kind of stuff; so I ask him to hold out his hands, like this, and I pile all this junk into them and down at the bottom there's the plastic lemon, and I can't get the top off. So I hand it to him and he's very obliging, he twists the top off and hands it back to me, and I squirt him in the eyes." I hope you don't think that's to vicious . Come to think of it, it is a bit mean, espicially when he was so polite and all.
That's your rape fantasy?" Chrissy says. "I don't believe it."

That quote is about 1/2 way through the story, there is even more interesting reading after that.

I enjoyed the book. I'll finish and Pm next on list for addy and get in the mail when I get it.


Journal Entry 5 by amoenus from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma USA on Tuesday, August 8, 2006
A great collection of short stories by Atwood. I really enjoyed it thanks for sharing it, The one I quoted above is still my favorite in the book. I am mailing to next on the list today.

Journal Entry 6 by anozira86 from Whittier, California USA on Thursday, August 10, 2006
Got it! Looking forward to reading this one right away!

Journal Entry 7 by anozira86 from Whittier, California USA on Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Interesting stories... my favorite collection of Atwood short stories is still WILDERNESS TIPS :-) Mailing off to Kizmiaz today. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 8 by kizmiaz from Belém , Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Got it today, will get to it when I can.

Journal Entry 9 by kizmiaz from Belém , Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The more Margaret Atwood’s books I read the more I love her writing. This one is a brilliant collection of short stories and, apart from the first four, I was totally absorbed in the reading once I started.
The spectre of World War II hangs over most of these stories like a ghost, something that changed the characters lives and still comes up in times of stress.
My favourite was When It Happens, I found the idea behind this plainly written story amazing and the main character’s just pure genius. But all the other stories are great too (I just didn’t connect that well with the first four, don’t ask why).
Atwood’s plots and characters are a work of love, her use of female leading characters and the way they connect (although most of them really don’t) with their male partners is brilliant in its simplicity.
I’ll be sending it to Evablue today (12.10.2006)

Journal Entry 10 by evablue from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The book arrived today - thanks kizmiaz. Will get to it rigt away.

Journal Entry 11 by evablue from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Sunday, November 5, 2006
This is the first short story collection by Margaret Atwood I read, and I must say I enjoyed it very much. Each story gives us a small glimpse into other people's worlds and describes everyday battles: noisy bathrooms in rented shared flats, weekend trips in search of unrequited love, stays in hotel rooms, banality, the complexity of human relationships - the events themselves sound trivial but are things that matter to the people involved. Her characters are often short on funds, love, and hope, and they all face moments of decision. Some of the stories are funny - as laurarn already pointed out "rape fatasies" is hilarious - others are blood chiling. What makes them unique is the author's point of view who maps human motivation in a way we have not yet considered.

I liked quite a few of the stories, however if I had to pick out a couple they would be "Training" which is the story of a young man becoming aware of the loss of his innocense, and "Giving birth" which gives an unexpected edge to the subject.

Thanks for sharing Aramena, I enjoyed it very much. Mailed the book to PurpleElephant on 6th November.

Journal Entry 12 by PurpleElephant from Glastonbury, Somerset United Kingdom on Friday, November 10, 2006
Book arrived this morning thank you very much for posting Evablue. I should be able to start on it this week!

Journal Entry 13 by PurpleElephant from Glastonbury, Somerset United Kingdom on Saturday, January 6, 2007
I eel really bad that I kept this for so long and then forgot to update this jounal. I posted this book to lmjsmum just before Christmas. I hope she has recieved it.

Anyway I really enjoyed this collection of stories. As usual Margaret Atwood hits the nail on the head. I would pick out my favourite but the book is no longer with me.

Journal Entry 14 by lmjsmum from Oswestry, Shropshire United Kingdom on Sunday, January 7, 2007
recieved this week. put in my pile of tbr!!! looking forward to reading it.

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